From Planks to Pavement

From Planks to Pavement. North Front Street's Early Views. At the turn of the century, Ketchikan's pioneer townsite sprouted up from the base of a rugged, uncleared rocky mountainside where it meets deep tidewater. The downtown business district was literally built upon pilings and planked decking, with numerous connecting boardwalks that were eventually widened into wooden streets and long stairways that climbed steep slopes above to link those new homes with a view. Construction of new frame buildings was a routine sight, with painted clapboard shingle signs everywhere announcing new business enterprises, to capitalize on the ever-increasing residents and their basic needs and services., North Front Street, along with its lower south-end block counterpart, was the heart of Ketchikan's growth during the First City's formative boomtown years. The town's waterfront character was sculpted by the many wharf-related businesses fed by arriving steamer traffic, and colored by an enthusiastic populace that scurried about with carts and wheelbarrows of goods in their eagerness to build a fine new city. New hotels, mercantiles, canneries and cold storages, churches, schools, and government buildings rose up alongside saloons, dance halls, billiard parlors and bawdy houses , all boasting a hard-working, hard-playing frontier border town., 1902 and 1903 city ordinances, directed the initial wood plank construction of Front Street, about the time Ketchikan had electric power and lights. This short, boarded roadway was tom up in 1919 in favor of a permanent gravel road, and by 1920, Front Street became Alaska's first paved street. Front's central location along the main docks of Ketchikan's downtown commercial district made it an ideal perennial stage for most of the First City's traditional affairs and special events. Since America's Independence Day was first celebrated here in 1897, virtually all of Ketchikan's grand 4th of July Parades have passed down this short, time-worn avenue., Very few of north Front Street's historical buildings have survived time's toll of fires, relocation and razing for street widening projects. The most significant buildings remaining today are: Ketchikan's City Hall, built in 1925-26 for Citizen's Light, Power and Water Company (a privately-owned utilities purchased by the city in 1935); The Gilmore Hotel Building, erected in 1926-27 by pioneer clothier and mayor P.J. Gilmore, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and the Stedman Hotel Building at the corner of Front and Dock streets, built in 1905-06., [Sidebars] , . One of Ketchikan's most outstanding pioneer families are the Hunts; headed by patriarch, Forrest J. Hunt, local businessman, 1906-07 mayor and Territorial Senator and his wife, Harriet E. Hunt, Ketchikan's great pioneer photographer and civic leader who helped establish Ketchikan's Public Library. The Hunt Family first settled in Wrangell in 1898, then a booming gateway to the Klondike. They moved to Ketchikan in 1900 and established Hunt's Grocery Company on Front Street, which pioneered shipment of iced seafood to outside markets, and later added a meat market and photo and curio business. Most of Ketchikan's early growth and pioneers' portraits were documented by Mrs. Hunt's fine work. Son, Dale, was also a Ketchikan mayor (1920-21) and businessman, and the entire family was active in promoting community growth and tourism. Front Street's two-story Hunt Building was a local landmark until destroyed in 1950 by an arson fire. , . Ketchikan's Nob Hill Historic District, located above the tunnel, features the former residences of many of the town's most prominent businessmen from the century's early decades, including the Ryus, Daly, Heckman and Heneghan families. Commanding the most impressive harbor views, these homes are among Ketchikan's best-known, being visible from both downtown and Newtown. , . Built about 1905, the two frame buildings at Nob Hill's base which bracketed the staircase to the neighborhood were a familiar sight at the N. end of Front Street, until they were razed in 1953 for the tunnel project. Last tenants were husband and wife Drs. Dickenson and Abercrombie's, the building at the stairs' right, was the early location of Citizen's Light, Power and Water Co. offices., Captions , (Top, clockwise from left) , . Front St, circa 1902, viewing N Tongass Historical Society , . Ketchikan, Alaska's waterfront circa 1905 H. Hunt/Tongass Historical Society , . N. Front Street, circa 1906, viewing S. toward Ketchikan Spruce Mill.. Ketchikan Restaurant at left, is site of today's Gilmore Hotel. F.H. Nowell/University of Washington Libraries , (Center) The Hunt Family Pictured at front, L-R: Forrest J. Hunt and wife Harriet E. Hunt, and their children, L-R: Amy Hunt Craft, Bertha Hunt Wells, Dale Ward Hunt, and Elaine Hunt Talbot. , (Bottom, clockwise from left) , . Circa 1913. Dream Theater later became the Liberty Theater. Tongass Historical Society , . Hunt's Grocery Co. store in 1901 H. Hunt/THS , . Front St. wharf, circa 1904. H. Hunt/Tongass Historical Society , . Dr. Muschard leads an early 1920s July 4 Parade down new pavement past Front and Dock Sts. Tongass Historical Society